[Raion]

I'm not one for Christmas much for a variety of reasons, but I do like hearing about people's cultural differences in how they celebrate it, who they're with, what food they eat, and such. 

Up until the age of about 19 I celebrated it mostly with my father, and while trees used to be part of it, by 19 it was no longer. It was a family tradition to get Italian-American food, my favorite thing was definitely the calzones or sfincione (a type of sicilian pizza). 

Since age 20, it's either been something I celebrate with whomever I'm dating, or rarely, with my grandparents. Most unique custom had to be my ex's celebrations in 2019, whose father was Croatian and her mother Greek - for those out of the loop that means there's a mix of Orthodox and Catholic traditions. For their part, Badnjak isn't actually the gift-giving day, that's St. Nicholas Day on Dec 6 (which is conveniently on the same day I was born, heh) for that family. I attended both, and her dad got me, well a PS4 controller (limited edition) because he is a massive gamer as a combined present - I got her parents some Chinese teas they like that are hard to source. Christmas mass at their church was 3 hours long or so and entirely in Croat, which I don't speak. For those who recall, I'm not Christian, but it was a unique experience anyways. Her mother's Orthodox Church, well I never went because Orthodox services are far more esoteric. The food, well in a word it's quite good! I like Croatian food, it's pretty tasty usually other than the mutton/lamb dishes, and the variety is usually pretty good. The Eve dinner is served with fish, which IIRC was halibut. It was quite tasty. 

Anyways, nowadays I do get gifts for people anyways, mostly because I know it's culturally expected of me as an adult to do so. I usually try to spread that out throughout the year so I don't deal with a massive financial hit. Some of my friends/family are used to by now having me ask them in Mar or Jun what they want. 

Anyways, let's hear what you do on Christmas.